


i've come around

by vlvt (orphan_account)



Series: vlvtflowers' bingo! [3]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Awkward Flirting, Drunken Flirting, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Genderswap, Minor Son Hyunwoo | Shownu/Yoo Kihyun, Pining, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-08 03:17:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14095995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/vlvt
Summary: it's not like minah wants to have a tiny crush on her coworker/friend’s sister and step-sister's friend and bandmate, but she can't help it. joohyun has an undercut, the top long and floppy and bleached, and it falls into her eyes unless she's wearing one of her billion snapbacks (minah isn't counting, but she's never seen the same one twice). her cheeks are cute, and her dimples are cuter, and she's got thick thighs and her arms look strong under the baggy hoodies she wears.





	i've come around

**Author's Note:**

> hyunwoo = hyunmi  
> hoseok = hyunsook  
> minhyuk = minah  
> kihyun = kyungah  
> hyungwon = hyewon  
> jooheon = joohyun  
> changkyun = chaeyoung
> 
> the main pairing is joohyun/minah, and there's side hyunmi/kyungah and hyewon/chaeyoung.  
> minah and kyungah are step-sisters. hyunsook and joohyun are sisters.  
> the band is called L4L. kyungah is the vocalist, hyunmi is the guitarist, chaeyoung is the bassist, and joohyun is the drummer.

a cymbal crashes down on the hardwood floor outside minah's bedroom.

she doesn't flinch; this is becoming a regular alarm clock.

"sorry!" joohyun calls out. she sounds genuinely apologetic, and minah doesn't know her well enough to scold her for it, so she grunts in reply and longs for the day joohyun learns to pay attention while carrying objects that hold the potential to be very loud if dropped.

minah is halfway back to sleep when her door swings open, and kyungah tells her they're going to practice - unnecessarily, since minah could have guessed that at this point - and that minah should pick up some milk on her way home from work.

thankfully, minah knows kyungah very well, so she feels justified in throwing a book at her. kyungah leaves with a dramatic swish of her oversized cardigan. minah wishes they didn't live together.

 

*

 

minah doesn't hate her job in the cafe, as much as she complains about it. she gets paid enough to afford her half of the rent and shopping, and it takes less than twenty minutes to walk there. she gets away with having her hair dyed and wearing clothes that may not be strictly appropriate because one of her coworkers, hyunsook, is a full-blown punk, and the manager can only ask her to change so many times before he gives up entirely.

hyunsook is nice behind all of the makeup and piercings and leather: she frightens easily, which minah never loses pleasure in exploiting; she's older, so minah can shamelessly beg her to pay for her snacks; and her sister is joohyun, which means that sometimes joohyun will come in and get a drink on hyunsook's employee discount and sit at a table looking... annoyingly cute, really.

when there aren't many customers, it's nice to have something to look at (even if hyunsook smacks her over the back of the head when she first notices minah staring in joohyun's direction).

it's not like minah wants to have a tiny crush on her coworker/friend’s sister _and_ step-sister's friend and bandmate, but she can't help it. joohyun has an undercut, the top long and floppy and bleached, and it falls into her eyes unless she's wearing one of her billion snapbacks (minah isn't counting, but she's never seen the same one twice). her cheeks are cute, and her dimples are cuter, and she's got thick thighs and her arms look strong under the baggy hoodies she wears.

minah thinks she's adorable. she kind of wants to wrap her arms around joohyun and kiss her cheeks and see if she's as strong as hyunmi, even though that's an impossible feat.

 

it's a tuesday, which means hyunsook isn't in and it's just minah and two other women working until 8pm, when minah closes and cashes up.

she wonders if she's wrong about the day, though, when joohyun walks in. minah doesn't think she's ever seen joohyun here with hyunsook behind the counter, and she almost does a double-take.

the woman on the till asks joohyun what she would like to order, and minah keeps washing up, half listening and half trying to appear as though she isn't.

"sorry, um, i'm not getting anything, i just- minah?" joohyun calls out, and she's blushing when minah drops the plate in the sink and turns to look at her.

"uh, hi," joohyun mutters, moving away from the till awkwardly. "sorry to bother you at work."

"that's okay," minah tells her, even though she's confused, and she rushes to pull the washing-up gloves off her hands.

"we have a gig," she rushes through the words. "it's on saturday."

"oh, i know," minah says, feeling like maybe she should have pretended she didn't for joohyun's sake. "kyungah told me last week. and- and i'm going, obviously."

minah feels herself get warmer and hopes desperately that it isn't showing on her face.

"i thought she would have said so but, uh, hyunsook made a flyer and kyungah forgot to take one to give you so i thought i would just stop by since hyunsook said she won't see you until thursday, so..."

trailing off, joohyun gets a piece of paper out of the pocket of her hoodie and passes it to minah over the counter. minah is very glad she had pulled the gloves off, and she takes the flyer to look at it. hyunsook is very talented, clearly, and she's done a great job. the names of the band members are listed at the bottom in thick bubble writing, and it reminds minah-

"ah, it's your first gig with the band, right? are you nervous?"

L4L hadn't played live since yubin left, and even with yubin they had only played a handful of times, so minah was sure they were all nervous, but joohyun was definitely the least prepared.

"yeah, it is," and joohyun still seems awkward but she smiles, her eyes curving up.

"you'll be fine," minah insists, and despite them both knowing she's never seen joohyun play it makes joohyun smile even wider, and finally make eye-contact with minah.

flustered, minah says, "i'll buy you a drink after," and then hurries to add, "i'll buy you all drinks! obviously. because kyungah is my little sister. i'll get everyone a drink. that's what i mean."

joohyun laughs at her (oh, god, she's got such a pretty laugh), and when she leaves she says, "bye, minah," and minah thinks that joohyun should take kyungah's place as the vocalist of the band because she's never heard anything sound better.

 

*

 

"you can't wear that. you look like you stole someone's grandmother's outfit."

"what the fuck?" kyungah splutters, glaring at minah sat in the corner of the bedroom, giggling wildly.

"come on, look, put some black jeans on," minah says, trying to sound insistent but failing when she snorts. "you've got nice legs. show them off to hyunmi!"

it's too easy to rile kyungah up.

"i don't need to show anything off to hyunmi," she grumbles, though she's already yanking her single pair of black ripped jeans out from the depths of her drawers. "because we're already dating," she pulls the jeans on and wiggles around weirdly to pull them up.

minah almost bursts trying to hold her laughter in at the sight, and she really thinks she might throw up when kyungah stares confusedly at the ends of the jeans still stretched down over the heel of her foot (because these are minah's old jeans, and kyungah's legs are probably still as long as they were when she was thirteen).

"i'm going to murder you," kyungah threatens, but even she admits that her cardigan and button-up blouse look nice with the jeans, and that the corduroy trousers just weren’t going to work.

"ah, but then who will pay for your post-show drinks?" minah says, dancing away from kyungah's angry smacking hands and eyeing herself in the mirror.

"hyunsook. or hyewon. hyewon always pays," and kyungah is right, so minah can't even argue. "anyway, why are you all dressed up? you're not the one on stage."

by anyone else's standards, minah's clothes wouldn't count as "dressed up", but kyungah knows her well and knows what she looks like when she wants to impress.

despite hassling kyungah to wear cool jeans, minah is wearing high-waisted, black and white checkered trousers, held up with a belt, and she's tucked her vest top into them. the trousers are too big, so they're bunched up under the belt buckle, and she's had to roll them up twice because even on her legs they drag on the floor. her hair is messy, and she isn't wearing any makeup because she never does and never will.

"i'm not dressed up," minah says, putting her favourite little hoop earring into the first hole on her earlobe and struggling to get it to close properly. "i'm just excited for you guys. first gig with your new drummer, first gig in a while, etcetera etcetera, blah blah blah."

kyungah knows everything, and there's no point in lying to her ever. "new drummer, eh?"

sometimes minah thinks she could kiss hyunmi (and she has, so it isn't really a hypothetical), and now is one of those times.

"oh, look at that! hyunmi's calling you. no time to chat, kyungah, you need to go!"

 

minah and hyewon get to the club an hour later. there had been one band on before L4L which neither of them had any interest in seeing. hyewon was there for chaeyoung only, and minah's attention span wasn't long enough for her to sit through boring songs by a boring male band.

it's busier than expected, so minah sends kyungah an encouraging text message with lots of emojis in before letting hyewon buy her a drink; she can't text while drunk, and she knows this very well from an unfortunate amount of experience.

a majority of the people present are women - generally to be expected when the band playing next call themselves “political lesbian punk indie rock” - and the group standing right by the stage are definitely lesbians, too. there are a few men dotted around, and it’s refreshing to see them hanging back by the bar rather than pushing forward, even if they’re doing it out of disdain. minah remembers how nervous kyungah had been about starting this band, and hopes that she isn’t so afraid anymore.

when hyunsook comes out from behind the stage, minah guesses it won't be long before L4L are on, and she drags hyewon closer to the front, looping an arm through hyunsook's so she doesn't lose her in the pressing crowd.

 

if an award for "worst step-sister" exists, it should be given to lee minah, and she would accept it without protesting. kyungah is probably doing a really good job. hyunmi definitely is, because she always does. chaeyoung could do anything and hyewon would be proud, so it’s harder to tell with her. joohyun is doing brilliantly, and minah knows this because she hasn't looked away from her since she walked on.

joohyun’s hair is tied back, roots black and uneven, and the pieces that have come loose hang around her face. she still looks cute, because it would probably be impossible for her not to, but minah has never found anyone this hot before.

the top joohyun is wearing is obviously diy - the sleeves have been cut off, and minah wonders if it was deliberately done so that the shirt gaped open down joohyun’s entire side. it means that her sports bra is more than a little visible, and when she lifts her sticks over her head to count the band in minah can see her armpit hair and the curve of her tummy.

it’s got to be considered cruelty that minah went so many months only seeing joohyun in long sleeves. her arms could rival hyunsook’s, and the way they tense every single time she hits the drums is enough to have minah’s mouth feeling dry.

the rest of the band are wearing jeans, but joohyun is in baggy athletic shorts that rode up her legs when she first sat down and have stayed there since. minah wants to spend the rest of her life between joohyun’s thighs.

everything about her - the sweat on her forehead, her smile when chaeyoung comes to play beside her for a minute, the striped socks peeking out from the top of her pink vans - makes minah pretty sure that her crush just graduated to infatuation.

it would be embarrassing how fixated she is on joohyun if hyewon hadn’t been filming chaeyoung for the past three songs with no break, periodically shouting encouragingly at her and getting close to tears whenever chaeyoung awkwardly sings into her mic.

 

their set ends far too soon, and then they’re bowing and heading off. kyungah is holding hyunmi’s hand as they walk off the stage, chaeyoung is dragging her bass with her and complaining already, and joohyun - joohyun pulls her tank top off and throws it into the crowd. the lesbians still at the front catch it and laugh when joohyun curtsies dramatically and blows a kiss at them.

“min, come on,” hyunsook shouts, dragging minah along and fake-retching when she sees what minah is staring fixedly at.

“if you hurry up, you can talk to joohyunnie,” hyewon coaxes in her most patronising voice, laughing even more condescendingly when it works to get minah moving.

 

“you were great!” minah yells, throwing herself at kyungah and wrapping her legs around kyungah’s waist.

“thank you,” kyungah says, then, “please get off me. please. i’m so tired.”

minah sets her free, and switches to pinching kyungah’s cheeks like a proud aunt. “my little sister, a rockstar!”

“we’ve played shows before,” hyunmi interrupts, pulling kyungah away from minah’s grabby hands. “you were at them. why are you like this?”

“yes, but you haven’t played with joohyun before! where is joohyun, anyway?” minah asks, definitely failing to sound casual. hyunsook pretends to gag again.

“she’s taking the stuff back to the van,” chaeyoung says from where she’s tucked away in hyewon’s arms. it looks like she’s suffocating, but she seems unbothered.

hyunsook, with a smirk, says, “if you helped her i bet she’d be really grateful.”

by the time she finishes speaking, minah has disappeared out the back with an armful of wires.

she shows more restraint with joohyun than she had with kyungah, walking up to her normally and patting her on the back. it makes joohyun jump, but she smiles when she sees that it's minah.

"hey! you were so good. congratulations! you couldn't tell it was your first gig," minah says, rambling because joohyun is standing in front of her still in only her sports bra and shorts and she hasn't cleaned all her sweat off yet and the waistband of her underwear peeks above her shorts and digs into her soft tummy a little and minah is staring and joohyun has surely noticed because she's _blushing_.

"ah, thank you," she says sheepishly, not calling minah out on her blatant crush. "it was really fun. what was your favourite song?"

minah hadn't heard a single song title in her daze. "um. the last one? yeah. that was great."

the way joohyun raises her eyebrows has minah worrying that: 1) she's a mind reader; and 2) she can tell that minah was thinking less of the song and more of the stunt joohyun pulled.

but it seems that if joohyun can read minds, she's a benevolent woman, because she doesn't question minah's flimsy answer and instead asks, "could you help me fit these drums back in the van? usually hyunmi helps, but i guess she's not coming out here for some reason.

_yeah_ , minah thinks. _she's following lesbian code and leaving us out here together in the hopes that i'll get my shit together._

"i'll try, but i'm not very strong," minah warns her.

"that's okay. i'll carry the stuff out to the van and you can just arrange it," joohyun says with another one of her cutest smiles, and after that minah really can't refuse her.

joohyun discovers in the next twenty minutes that minah really hadn't been exaggerating. all of the heavy lifting is left to joohyun; minah plays tetris with music equipment and stares at joohyun's legs when she picks things up. she's very apologetic about her lack of help. joohyun almost says something flirty (like, "your company was nice", or "you look stupidly hot even when you aren't doing anything") but half-chickens out, going with, "you can get us drinks to make up for it."

"i was always going to do that," minah says, jumping out of the van to let joohyun lock it up. "i'll buy everyone else a drink -"

minah swings her arm around joohyun's neck as they walk back into the bar. "- but i'll get you two. whatever you want. no price limit."

the rest of their group, already sat round a table, protest heavily when minah says she'll buy them one beer each, and then laugh like schoolchildren when joohyun asks for two cocktails.

"what kind?" minah asks, painfully aware of the looks she's getting from her friends.

joohyun is cute, and used to seem innocent, but she bites her lip and says, "surprise me. and the second one is yours."

she'd had one drink before the show, and had drinks with kyungah while they got dressed earlier, and the cocktail is all it takes for minah to get a little messy. one of her hands is on joohyun's thigh, and she can't remember how or when it got there, but she isn't moving it.

across from her, hyewon and chaeyoung are talking and looking every bit like the perfect butch/femme couple that they are. chaeyoung is quiet, and minah still doesn't know her very well, but she's adorable and hyewon hasn't let go of her since they sat down.

to her side kyungah and hyunsook are arguing with hyunmi about something, and every time kyungah laughs she slaps the table, her leg, or hyunmi. hyunsook must find it hilarious, because she's laughing so hard there's no sound coming out. hyunmi kind of just looks bemused; minah can never tell.

the only reason minah isn't joining in with them or flirting with joohyun is the guy - gunhee, he had said - standing by their booth and talking to joohyun. he's been there for ten minutes, and if joohyun wasn't literally in an all-lesbian band minah might have worried that he was her boyfriend.

ten minutes is a long time for someone so overactive and tipsy to sit doing nothing. if her hand starts moving, she can't be blamed. it's definitely someone else's fault.

joohyun squeaks, making gunhee laugh and, once he realises the cause, make a quick exit. he congratulates the rest of the band again, and seems decent enough, but minah can’t help but be pleased that he's gone. as soon as he turns away, joohyun's hand is on top of minah's, stopping her from pulling joohyun's shorts up further yet.

"hey," joohyun mumbles when she turns to look at minah, her cheeks red.

"you should give me your number," is what minah blurts out, a little startled by how close their faces are so suddenly, though the speed with which joohyun says _yes_ reassures minah that this isn't as one-sided as she had worried.

hyunsook catches her eye and winks. minah has the sudden, thrilling thought that joohyun might have mentioned her to hyunsook. she hopes desperately that she remembers to ask her when she's more sober.

"i'll text you," minah says. "you're so cute."

joohyun ducks her head to laugh shyly, leaning further into minah when minah reaches up to run her fingers through joohyun's hair, now free of the hairband she'd had in during the set.

"you should let me dye your hair. the roots are showing."

some of the confidence sneaks back into joohyun's voice when she says, "don't you think it's cute like this?" with a fake pout.

minah does. she really, really does.

 

*

 

minah wakes up at midday on sunday, and the first thing she does is check her phone.

there are lots of congratulatory messages to kyungah, hyunmi, and chaeyoung, all riddled with spelling errors and far too many exclamation marks.

one message to hyewon simply says, “i c u cut ur nails”. hyewon’s reply was a winky face. minah wishes drunk-her hadn’t sent that text.

the latest message was to joohyun, and it’s surprisingly typed better than the others - it’s almost legible. joohyun hasn’t sent anything back yet. rather than letting herself get down, minah messages hyunsook, knowing she’ll answer because she wakes up at inhumane times to get to the gym.

 

_heeeey sook jw has joohyun evr talkd abt me~~~~~_

_ask her yourself i’m not trying to get my sister laid_

_so thts a definite yes thnk u!!!_

_thts a bad attitude ur a bad wingwoman_

_are you really texting me to talk shit and flirt with her indirectly_

_yes and yes bye i need 2 go tell joohyun how pretty she is_

_so pretty i cld DIE_

_i’m going to block your number_

 

*

 

if minah was a man, she would text joohyun two days after the gig. joohyun would reply politely, and minah might initiate a first proper date. they'd go to see a film, and get dinner in a moderately posh restaurant after. it could be a little awkward. they would kiss chastely at the end, after minah had walked joohyun to her front door. maybe there would even be flowers involved.

thankfully, they're lesbians, with meddling lesbian friends, so joohyun shows up at kyungah and minah's place an hour later, and says, "sorry to bother you guys. hyunsook said that if i didn't talk to minah by tomorrow she would tell her all of my secrets."

"too late!" minah shouts gleefully from where she's sat on the sofa playing mario kart. "if you beat me on rainbow road i'll tell you what she’s already told me."

"what happens if i lose? can we play best of three?" joohyun asks as she picks up the second controller and sits beside minah. she's obviously showered - her hair looks soft, and she smells like mint. she's back in her usual hoodie and shorts, and it's hard to mourn the sight of her arms when her legs are right there. minah knows she's going to lose; she can't concentrate with joohyun looking so cute.

"no best of three. if you lose... well, you'll find out!"

joohyun whines, and proceeds to absolutely destroy minah, seemingly with no effort at all. she looks so pleased when she wins, doing a victory dance and smiling smugly, and laughing when minah doesn't even finish the map.

excited to badmouth hyunsook, minah is about to tell joohyun what had been implied (and maybe fabricate it a little to see joohyun's reaction), but before she can joohyun interrupts her.

"wait, wait, forget about hyunsook for a moment. i want to know what you were going to do if i lost."

joohyun's tone of voice is a little flirty, enough so that minah doesn't second-guess what she means. she licks her lower lip, shuffling closer to minah. the shorts minah is wearing are just men's boxer shorts, and when joohyun puts a hand on her thigh - the way minah had done to her last night - minah can't help but breathe in sharply.

"uh, i don't know. i kind of knew you would win," minah admits, wishing that she was as smooth and effortlessly flirty as hyewon.

"can i choose my own reward?"

oh, man. minah feels like she's come a long way from secretly thinking joohyun was cute from a distance to whatever this moment is.

"yes, always," she says, nodding embarrassingly and hoping joohyun isn't messing with her.

and she probably isn't, because she stills minah's head with one hand on her jaw and kisses her on the corner of her mouth.

"oh, my god, you're adorable. you're the most adorable, you know that?" minah rushes out when joohyun pulls back, one hand brushing through joohyun's hair and stopping to rest on the soft shaved undercut just above the nape of her neck. joohyun snorts with laughter, and minah uses that hand to pull her closer and kiss her again.

hyunmi emerges from the kitchen, takes one look at them on the sofa, and yells, "kyungah, they u-hauled!" and kyungah, who usually only leaves her bed on a sunday to get food, rushes out of her bedroom with her phone already in hand, duvet still trailing behind her.

"minah, you're such a fucking stereotype," kyungah says, presumably already texting hyewon, hyunsook, and chaeyoung about it.

mouth hanging open, minah gestures between kyungah and hyunmi. kyungah is wearing hyunmi's shirt, and hyunmi is brushing her teeth with the toothbrush she keeps in their bathroom. minah will not listen to criticisms of stereotypical behaviour from _them_.

kyungah, without looking up from her phone, deadpans, "you know if you talk shit about me i won't cook you any food, right?"

"ah, joohyun, aren't kyungah and hyunmi the sweetest?" minah coos, winking at joohyun. "are you staying for pancakes?"

speaking through badly muffled giggles, joohyun says, "yes, please," and kisses minah's cheek.

"we'll have chocolate chip, please, and we're eating in my room!"

 

*

 

the next time joohyun drops a cymbal, minah throws a pillow at her. joohyun apologises with kisses. minah forgets why she was ever even mad at her.

**Author's Note:**

> this is incredibly self-indulgent lesbian nonsense so thank you for reading! i hope you liked it :+]
> 
> for the squares "genderswap" and "band au".


End file.
